


the world, the stars, and everything else in between

by tropicalfruits



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: And Akaashi is Bokuto's world, Bokuaka - Freeform, Bokuto is Akaashi's star, Bokuto proposes to Akaashi after winning the Olympics, Enjoy!, Fluff, M/M, Major Manga Spoilers, Marriage Proposal, So yeah, also haikyuu is ending and i'm utterly destroyed, i'm so sorry i just had to get this out of my system
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:27:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25379143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tropicalfruits/pseuds/tropicalfruits
Summary: The Earth is 152.02 million km away from the nearest star.Akaashi Keiji is a mere 7 cm away from his.Or the one where Bokuto proposes to Akaashi after the final match of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou
Comments: 18
Kudos: 322





	the world, the stars, and everything else in between

The sound of his hand hitting the ball with all of his might was all Akaashi could hear amidst the roaring voices of the audience, their cheers subsiding into a low buzz. The ball hits the arm of the opposing team's libero, deflected off-court. Bokuto lands back down, shoulders hunched, and for a moment, he couldn't see the look on his face. For a moment, there was nothing but deafening silence. 

And then the whistle was blown, and Akaashi couldn't help but leap to his feet in pure awe. He stands way before anyone else in the entire stadium makes a move, and instantly feels lightheaded. 

All at once, the stadium seems to shine brighter and brighter, blinding his eyes. 

But none of that matters. Not when his star, _his Koutarou_ , stands there in the middle of the court, eyes blown wide in genuine shock, staring and staring and staring, as his teammates crowd around him, pulling him into a tight hug. And all at once, the sounds come rushing back in; the screams and the claps and the silent breath he lets out shakily, all flowed out in a steady stream of noise.

Akaashi hadn't realized he'd been crying until the tears began to cloud his sight, falling in thick droplets down his coat. 

(Tenma was saying something right besides him, shaking his body animatedly, and yet he couldn't make out a single word) 

Bokuto looks so small from where he stood, huddled with the rest of his teammates in a flurry of red uniforms. 

Everyone stood on their seats, screaming in joy and celebration because for the first time in history, _Japan had beaten Brazil for the gold medal._

Akaashi takes a shaky, deep breath, and begins to clap his hands, his lips tugging into a whole-hearted smile (and yet he finds it impossible to stop the tears). All those years they'd spent together suddenly came back in a heap of memories. The high school city tournament he had seen Bokuto for the first time in, their first practice together, their first Spring High, their last. He remembers every memory in vivid detail, as if his brain had been storing it for this exact moment. 

The teams line up to shake hands, and Akaashi has his eyes on Bokuto the entire time, taking in every tiny detail as he possibly could of the image unraveling before his eyes. It was as surreal as it was in every sense _perfect_ ; the way Japan's national team's uniform fits him so perfectly, as if he had been born to wear the color and carry the meaning beneath the flag on his chest, the number four that stays on his back like it did throughout high school. It almost seems like nothing has changed. 

But that’s _his Koutarou_ standing on that court, scoring the winning shot, _his_ Koutarou standing there with a blindingly mesmerizing smile, screaming in excitement, at the top of the world. 

Akaashi was filled with a wave of pride so big, he could barely contain it. 

The audience were still clapping, screaming, throwing tokens of appreciation on the court because _Japan had won the Olympics for volleyball for the first time since 1972. And his star had been a part of that._

Akaashi chokes out a cry, the smile refusing to leave his face. 

The team moves to make a line before the audience, bowing in gratitude. The screams and claps go impossibly louder, deafening his ears. 

He watches him bow, and Akaashi could see him perfectly now; his white-streaked hair, messy and unkempt, his broad chest, toned legs. 

_It was his Koutarou, in all of his glory._

__

His Koutarou, who he had fallen in love with the second he laid his eyes on him. His Koutarou, who, against all odds, had loved him back just as much. 

__

_His star._

They straighten back up and begin to walk back to the court to cool down. Hinata and Kageyama were attached to the hip, all prideful smiles and tear-streaked cheeks. 

(Their fingers might've been slightly entwined as well)

Ushijima is staring towards the ceiling of the arena, face the usual amount of unreadable, a hint of a smile on his lips. 

Atsumu was looking straight at a booth by the other end of the court, straight towards the stand his twin brother had set up to promote his onigiri business; a huge, boastful smile tugging across his lips. There might've been tears in his eyes too, but Akaashi wouldn't know, his eyes were dead set towards Bokuto, still standing in a bow, even as the rest of his team leaves to return to the court. The man straightens his back and looks up at the audience, bringing in even louder cheers. 

Much to his surprise, Bokuto stayed. 

He doesn't move one bit towards where his teammates now stood within the court, regarding him with curious looks. 

Instead, he moves closer towards the bleachers, craning his neck up, his wide eyes searching amongst the hundreds of heads in the crowd. 

His fans reach out, screaming and shoving their phones for a picture. But everything else had dissipated into a blur of colors all around him. It seems as if Bokuto had seen nothing at all. 

Akaashi stands on the tip of his toes, trying to get a better look, and their eyes meet.

In that second, everything else between them seems to dissolve into air. 

It seems somewhat nostalgic; because he remembers feeling the exact same way the first time he had met him. 

_The idle fleeting thought that he was a ‘star’ crossed my mind._

Nothing had changed. Not a single thing.

“Keiji!” Bokuto screams, and the people begin to look around, wondering who it was he was calling out for. 

Akaashi felt his heart leap, but his feet were already moving, way before his brain could recognize what was going on. 

"Keiji!" Bokuto spreads his arms, screaming his name with all the energy left within him, and Akaashi was already pushing his way through the crowd, making his way down the front rows of the seats where it meets the side of the court. People made way for him to come through, somehow realizing it was him the ace was calling out for. When he reaches him, he nearly hops over the railing that separates the outer court from the audience seats, throwing himself in full force towards Bokuto's embrace. 

The moment their skins touch, Akaashi feels himself pulled back to the ground. He throws his arms around Bokuto's neck, right as Bokuto moves to pull him into a suffocating hug by the middle. They fit ridiculously perfectly. 

And suddenly, they were the only two in the entire arena. The only two in the whole, wide universe. 

"You did it..." Akaashi sighs into his neck, breathing him all in. He closes his eyes, wishing they could stay like this for eternity. "I knew you could do it." He wonders if Bokuto had heard him, if the words had come out of his mouth at all. When he felt Bokuto pull him deeper into the embrace, he knew he had heard him, loud and clear. 

"Keiji." Bokuto pries them apart, and Akaashi instantly misses the warmth of his skin on his own. Akaashi eyes him, wondering what on Earth made him sound so on edge. His team had just won gold for the _Olympics_ for fuck's sake. The Bokuto he knows would have been all over the place by now. 

This Bokuto is calm, calculated, and somewhat _nervous._

He spares no second looks at the camera crew starting to crowd over them, nor the fans and supporters by the audience seats with their eyes wide in wonder. 

Instead, he tugs at the collar of his uniform, reaching under his shirt to pull out a thin, silver-toned chain necklace, dangling it between them. Akaashi had never seen him wear it before.

But then he sees it; two silver rings slipped right within the necklace, intertwined. 

"Akaashi Keiji." Bokuto was still panting, beads of sweat sliding down his temple, but his eyes held the same sheer determination he had seen so many times on him, fire set in his gaze. 

He had never heard his voice shake so hard. 

Akaashi reminds himself to breathe. 

"Akaashi Keiji." Bokuto tries again, sounding as if it's taking him almost everything not to break down in a sob. It's rare to see Bokuto sound so serious towards him, it almost made him jittery. "You've always been by side, through my best and my worst. You were always there to support me, to take care of me, to love me.” 

_It's not fair._

Akaashi feels like the one who was supposed to say all that. 

“I love you, Keiji. God knows I do. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you, every single second until the very end. I can’t imagine life without you, and you might think this is impulsive of me to do, but trust me, I’ve given it a lot of thought. Trust me when I say I can make you the happiest man alive.” 

_You already have._ Akaashi wants to say, but his throat seems to close up. So instead, he lets out a vigorous nod, hoping he would understand. 

"I’ll cherish you, and love you and love you and love you with all of my heart. You have always been my whole world. So, Keiji, _my_ Keiji," He whispers, only for the two to hear. He brings their foreheads together, and they were so close, Akaashi could make out the glassy look in his beautiful, golden eyes. Bokuto holds one of the rings out in front of him, grasping it so tight his fingers turn red. He pauses, and it almost seems like the whole world was holding its breath with him. "Will you marry me?"

The crowd around them lets out a collective gasp, breaking out in hushed whispers and stolen glances, and for a moment, the entire arena seems to be in a standstill. 

Akaashi sucks in a breath. 

_“We are the protagonists of the world.”_

_“Akaashi! Your tosses are the best!”_

_“From you, I want your 120%”_

_“I love you, Keiji.”_

"Yes." Akaashi lets out a choked sob, throwing himself back into Bokuto’s embrace. He buries his head on the crook of his neck, repeating the word over and over and over again, until he was sure it was the only word he knew how to say. _“Yes, Koutarou.”_ He whispers, and feels the man shake beneath his hold.

And then the whole arena erupted in loud cheers. People all around them began clapping, whistling, screaming joyously. Words of congratulations were being thrown from all over the stadium in loud echoes, some voices more familiar than the others. When the two part, Bokuto lets out a loud whoop, his fist punching through air in pure, unadulterated bliss. 

Akaashi breathes out a tiny chuckle, glad he was back to his usual self so quickly. 

"Right! The ring!" He suddenly exclaims, and Akaashi could hear a few people laughing around them.

Bokuto fiddles at the necklace in his hands, working his way to slide the two rings apart with difficulty. His hands were shaking so much, Akaashi couldn't help but let out a small laugh. 

Akaashi reaches out, placing his hand over Bokuto’s helping him unlatch the necklace at its clasps, and then sliding the two rings off the thin chain. Bokuto looks up at Akaashi, a genuine smile on his lips. 

"I'm sorry I can't get down on one knee to propose to you, Keiji." Bokuto holds Akaashi's ring in his left hand, his right reaching to hold Akaashi's gently. His eyes were wet, and a sincere sense of regret lingers on his expression. 

"Don't you dare apologize for anything." Akaashi shakes his head, letting Bokuto slip the ring into his ring finger, slowly, as if to savour the moment. A perfect fit. 

Akaashi takes the other ring from his hand, and gently slips it into Bokuto's own ring finger.

"You know, I never imagined proposing to you like this." Bokuto begins, his eyes not leaving the ring now sitting beautifully on his finger. "I've planned for the perfect occasion months ago, but I was always too scared to ask." He lets out a small laugh, albeit a bit wry. It was nothing like Bokuto to be so nervous, so unsure of something when he'd given it all of his heart and soul from the very beginning.

Akaashi takes Bokuto's cheeks into his hands, pulling his face into a chaste kiss. When Akaashi pulls away, he holds Bokuto's face in his hands, making sure he was staring straight into his eyes.

"I love you Koutarou. Always have, always will. Nothing's ever going to change that." Akaashi could feel the tears drop down his cheeks, blurring his sight. He had never meant anything as much as he had meant those very words right then. "It's always been a 'yes' with you. Whether you'd asked me ten years ago, or ten years from now, my answer will always be a 'yes'." Akaashi smiles to his heart's content. 

Bokuto looks up to meet his eyes, a look of utter disbelief coloring his face. 

Akaashi moves his hand quick enough to wipe the tears falling from his eyes.

"I love you too, Keiji." Bokuto's voice breaks, as he pulls him into a hug, and Akaashi feels like he's _soaring_ , like in all the 24 years of being alive, he's finally _home._

The cheers go on forever, filling his ears to the very brim.

 _"And that's Bokuto Koutarou's second win today, ladies and gentlemen! After scoring the winning shot for gold medal against Brazil, he had successfully won the heart of his lover in marriage as well! I believe congratulations are in order."_ The commentator's voice booms through the speakers, high in excitement, echoing through the arena. 

The Earth is 152.02 million km away from the nearest star.

Akaashi Keiji is a mere 7 cm away from his. 

And he wonders about the infinity between that 152.02 km, the infinity that stretches between the 7 cm standing in between them.

He supposes, he still has plenty of years ahead of him to think about that. 

An entire lifetime by the side of the man he loves; his world, his star, and everything else in between. 

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for sticking until the very end! i really hope you guys enjoyed it!!! 
> 
> i really like the idea of bokuto proposing to akaashi. and with everything going on in the manga, i figured, why the hell not. tell me what you guys think, and whether or not I should write this from bokuto's pov next. haikyuu is ending and i just have to channel my energy (and devastation) into this fic. 
> 
> kudos and comments are highly appreciated! 
> 
> also, my twt account is @owlchiidren so hit me up on there if you ever wanna talk about haikyuu or bokuaka or just anime in general! :)


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